Shelby Township brothers in beating case can access new evidence

A federal judge on Tuesday ruled two Shelby Township brothers accused of extorting a rival Italian restaurant owner may have access to a new allegation against them, but not until the trial nears.

Giuseppe D’Anna, aka “Joe,” 60, and Girolamo D’Anna, aka “Mimmo,” 48, were indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of extorting the rival owner. Federal prosecutors now want to admit new information involving a similar allegation but have yet to turn over the information to defense attorneys.

The new allegation involves another rival restaurant figure who claims Girolamo D’Anna threatened him with a shotgun back in the 1990s.

“I agree the defense needs some more information on this,” U.S. District Judge Denise Page Hood said Tuesday at a hearing.

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According to court records, the D’Anna brothers opened the Tira Mi Su restaurant in Shelby Township in 1994 and hired a man who later left and went to work for a newly opened eatery a couple of blocks away called Cafe Italia.

A short time later, the man said he was invited by Giuseppe D’Anna to return to Tira Mi Su for a discussion. Once in the business office, the man claims D’Anna pulled out a shotgun and said “he was not afraid to use it,” documents show.

The man, either a manager or owner of Cafe Italia, took that as a threat. The restaurant later closed for good.

Federal prosecutors say that incident, which they learned of earlier this year, is “substantially similar” to the threats the D’Anna brothers are now accused of making.

The brothers now are accused of extorting the owner of Nonna’s Kitchen on 23 Mile Road in Shelby Township for three years beginning in 2009.

In January 2012, both of the D’Annas were sentenced in Macomb County Circuit Court to two months in jail for the brutal baseball bat beating of Pietro Ventimiglia, who owns Nonna’s with his wife, Maria.

The D’Annas both had faced life in prison when they were initially charged with attempted murder in the beating but were allowed to plead guilty to lesser charges. After serving their sentence, the brothers were indicted on three counts of extortion.

Defense counsel for the defendants say they have knowledge of the 1994 allegations and objected to the U.S. Attorney’s Office trying to introduce the claims in the current case.

James Thomas, representing Giuseppe D’Anna, said in court Tuesday that the defense team needs access to the new allegations to prepare a defense. He asked the judge to compel prosecutors to turn over the information.

“Without it, we are hampered in responding,” he said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Strauss said the information is contained in a grand jury transcript and “one or two interviews.” He said the documents will be turned over as the trial nears so the two sides can “have a meaningful discussion as to the similarity” of the allegations.

The judge set a tentative trial date for March 4 and told prosecutors to turn over the transcripts by Feb. 10.